Special Treats

My 10 Christmas Treats

1. Gingerbread Lattes
2. Mince Pies with Cheese
3. Christmas Candles (especially Sparkling Cinnamon)
4. New Pyjamas
5. Boxing Day Sandwiches (with lots of salt, mayo and crispy lettuce)
6. Playing Board Games (every year me, my mum, my brother and anybody else who fancied it used to have a running game of poker all Christmas Day)
7. Bucks Fizz with Lox and Bagels for Christmas Morning Breakfast
8. Christmas Bedding and Linen (all as cheap as chips but I love my reindeer pillows)
9. Merry Christmas...from complete strangers
10. All the wonderful Christmas Music (I restrain myself until December and then it is all Phil Spector all the time in our house!)

Oh Christmas Tree

I have been sorting Mum's photos for her for her Christmas present so I have been looking at photos of Christmas past for a few weeks. I have such vivid memories of our family tree. At our first house Dad went and cut down branches from the pine tree in the garden and we decorated those. There were big multicoloured bulbs that intertwined with angels choirs and disney characters. Always with a Barbie to top it off. 
Some of those decorations live on with my Dad. He has collected decorations from all round the world and whenever we go on holiday we buy one for him. They come from Brazil, all over the states, the far east and from European markets. All in the worst possible taste. The Boston Baked Beans in a Christmas Stocking is still my favourite. 

New year fun and games

So it is now a new year, well for me at least. I turned 29 on the 2nd of May and was spoilt rotten. I got an amazing new food processor and a 4 day trip to London full of musicals, family, amazing hotel views, friends and HARRY POTTER! We went to the new studio tour which was amazing and a complete surprise. I may have been a little emotional at various times. I am such a cry baby when I am happy!


The yarn arrived for the first of the baby blankets which is looking beautiful. The ripples are going well and the edges are almost even! A little wonk is part of the homemade charm I think.


Day off tomorrow with a gym induction. We shall see how my very unfit body copes!

Family time

At the moment I have my mum to stay. We haven't lived together so about 10 years. As you can imagine there have been moments of immense stress and annoyance on both our parts but the majority of it has been a complete joy.

She has cooked, gardened, created and cleaned her little heart out. I have had homemade swiss roll, île flottante, thai green curry, meatballs...the list goes on. We have had the garden tidied and she has added edges to our very undefined borders which has made a massive difference. It is starting to look like a real garden!

She has been creating and making her own pillowcases which are the basis of her new business (more on that later!). They are things of beauty with intricate whitework and crochet edges. Puts my counted cross stitch to shame. Saying that she always comments on how she could never do the things I do, she has no patience.

Also I haven't touched the washing up since she came!

So here's to mums and all they do.